South Africa: Madikwe (4th to 6th of December
2009)

These are pictures from our visit to the Madikwe Nature Reserve. It is about
4 hours drive North of Hartbeespoort, and worth a visit or even a stay over at
one of the lodges (See
Favourite Places).

We stayed at the lovely Tau Game Lodge (See
Favourite Places), and we can
really recommend it. The cabins were luxurious, the spa was very
relaxing, and the staff was friendly and helpful. (Bottom photo by
Jenny)

There is a big water hole in front of the cabins, which is frequented by
a large variety of animals.

One evening, we had an elephant enter the
water to eat some of the grass, right next to our cabin!

Each group has a dedicated game ranger for the duration of their stay.
Here I am with our game ranger, Ernest, which was very friendly and
knowledgeable. (Photo by Jenny)

My wife's favourite animal. To my wife's delight we saw loads of
giraffes. We also learned how distinguish between males and females by
looking at the horns, and therefore negating trying to look for the
telltale appendages. (Photo by Jenny)

We came rally up close and personal with the Madikwe elephants, with a
female even chasing us one evening.

We even saw buffalos, which left leopard as the only one of the big five
which we did not see.

The buffalo are very skittish, with most of the
photos being just of their behinds.

We were even fortunate enough to see some wild dogs, who are on the red
list for endangered species.

We sat and watched when a lioness came
charging in to attack the wild dogs.

Relaxing for a sun downer. There is nothing like looking at the sun set
while listing to nature getting ready to go to bed.

We really got close to nature. This was a couple of White Rhinos
grazing, and not bothered by the cameras snapping away.

Three lionesses doing what cats do best.

Ok, now that I've caught it, how do I get to eat it? One of the lioness
caught a Leopard Tortoise.

The king of the jungle with his family relaxing in an open plain early
in the morning. Having all these lions around made selecting a spot to
stop and have a cup off coffee a challenge. (Photo by Jenny)

While the parents are having a snooze, the kids where out to play.

There was quite a variety of birds to be seen. Here are just a few of
them.

A Spurwinged Goose (Wildemakou).

A Yellowbilled Kite in flight.

A Jackal Buzzard checking out its territory.

A Lizard Buzzard just taking off.

A female (top) and male (bottom) Knobbilled Duck.

An African Spoonbill. Odd looking bird!

A Yellowbilled (left) and a Redbilled (right) Oxpecker cleaning the
parasites from a giraffe.